Sports

Gold faces national foes

By Griffin Pritchard
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With the start of school looming on the approaching horizon, and the stains of Indian softball games not quite erased, two Wetumpka High students have one last bit of business to deal with. Anna Theriot and Kendra Orozco joined their Alabama Gold teammates to compete in the USA/ASA Softball 16-and-Under National Tournament in Owensboro, Ky.

Alabama Gold, which is one of the upper-level Amateur Softball Association travel teams, dropped the first game of the tournament, a 7-5 decision to the Texas Glory Soutch squad Monday and then fell 7-1 to a squad from Indiana during Tuesday’s tournament action at Jack C. Fisher Park.

Alabama Gold is one 54 teams seeking the title of National Champion.

“It’s fun,” said Orozco, who finished the first day 1-for-2 with a double and a pair of RBIs.

“We’ve seen some pretty good teams so far,” said Theriot.

“But we know that we are going to see some higher competition in Kentucky,” Theriot added.

Before setting foot on Bluegrass, the Alabama Gold left their mark on softball diamonds across the country.

After competing in a Memorial Day tournament in Birmingham, the Gold earned a fifth-place finish, shy of a tournament berth but high enough to earn a regional berth, in the ASA Qualifier in Lakeland, Fla.

“That’s probably the tournament I remember the most,” said Orozco.

“I hit my first walk-off home run, I just didn’t know I did it.”

Light was fading for the Gold, the squad had already lost one game and was trailing in their second.

“I was at bat and we were down,” said Orozco. “I hit a home run, rounded the bases and went into the dugout. Everybody was cheering I grabbed my glove to start the next inning. Anna stopped me and told that my home run had ended the game and that we’d won.”

Orozco has hit nine home runs during the travelball season.

Theriot has proven to be a threat at the plate this summer as well, hitting four home runs.

After stumbling in Florida, the Gold posted another top-five finish at the Music City Hits tournament in Nashville.

Alabama Gold lost in the championship of the ASA Regional Qualifier in Hoover to the Viper Haze out of Birmingham. However, their opponents had already qualified for the national tournament after winning a qualifier in Tallahassee, Fla., earlier in the summer.

Alabama Gold was able to claim the regional berth, despite finishing second in the tournament.

Following that, the girls went on a field trip.

“Colorado was pretty fun,” said Theriot. “That was the first time I’d been that far away form home.”

The Alabama Gold finished 11 out of a field that surpassed 70 teams.

“We played the California Breeze,” said Theriot. “They had a girl on third and a flyball was hit to me. I caught it and threw her out at home. Then I hit a homerun my next at bat.”

Regardless of how the Gold does in Kentucky, the playing experience garnered will help high school softball programs throughout the state.

“Alabama has come along way,” said Theriot. “Some of the pitching we see on the high school level is better than what we’ve seen in some games.”

For Orozco, who’s entering her junior year and looks to be one of the few upperclassmen on Wetumpka’s varsity squad, playing tournament softball during the summer is a good way to get looks from different colleges and universities.

“Junior year is when you start getting recruited the most,” said Orozco. “Maybe I’ll get looked at while I’m out here.”

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